Cozy Cove
I wrote, a few weeks back, about Brindlewood Bay and how the game didn’t work for my group. Lately, I’ve been noodling with ways to fix the game or, more likely, play a different but similar game. Especially since my players have talked about returning to the same characters.
I’ve also been thinking about mysteries in roleplaying games in relation to the mystery solving we see in other media. Television and movies tend to portray genius detectives who work alone or with a partner, rather than the three to five players which are often the sweet spot for gaming groups. Also, that genius part is important because, at least at my tables, none of us are super-sleuths. It often becomes frustrating because the players have only so much patience for solving an intricate mystery and I become frustrated because I usually make the mystery too convoluted.
So, how to solve this while also making the players feel like super-sleuths?
Super-sleuths have a variety of things going for them, in addition to being geniuses. They have honed their abilities specifically for crime solving and I think I’ve pulled out the important ones and mechanized them below:
Spotlight Abilities
Noticer: Flip your spotlight to ask the GM: what do I notice about this person / place that is relevant to the mystery?
Lie-detector: Flip your spotlight while interacting with a character to ask the GM: Is this person lying?
Trivia hound: Flip your spotlight to ask the GM: What relevant info do I remember that pertains to this person / place / thing?
Researcher: Flip your spotlight while sifting evidence to ask the GM: What additional information to I glean?
Manipulator: Flip your spotlight while interacting with a character to ask the GM: What is the best way to get this character to _?
Connector: Flip your spotlight to ask the GM: Who do I know that can help us out / would have that information?
I call these spotlight abilities because they give the player a spotlight moment to show off their detective skill. And, because you don’t want one player hogging the spotlight, a player can use this ability once by flipping their spotlight token. Then, when all the players have flipped their spotlight tokens, all of the tokens refresh and their spotlight abilities can be used again.
In addition to the spotlight abilities, each character will also have access to some non-spotlight abilities and a variety of skills to roll. (I haven’t worked all those out just yet.)
I’m using the Gumshoe system as a framework, here. That means that when the players are looking for clues somewhere they will always find a Core Clue (if it exists), one that will eventually explain the mystery. Rolling or spotlight abilities will give the players extra clues which will help them solve things faster and give them more context.
Here is my list of skills, in progress:
Bullshit Detector: Notice when someone is lying to or trying to manipulate you.
Circle: People you know that you can call on for help or information
First Aid: Skill with helping people who are hurt
Fitness: Ability to accomplish physically tasks or overcome physical obstacles
Notice: Catch something or someone that is hidden or obfuscated
Preparedness: How well your character thinks ahead in a situation
Skullduggery: Skill with breaking and entering, pick-pocketing, and being sneaky
Sway: Ability to convince others to cooperate with you
And, finally, each character has one or more Expertise abilities, like accounting or forensics, that I think we’re just going to freeform based on a character’s background.
Here’s a link to the character keeper I made in Google Sheets:
Cozy Cove v1 - Google Sheets
Sheet1 Name:,Name:,Name:,Name: Player:,Player:,Player:,Player: Cozy Activity:,Cozy Activity:,Cozy Activity:,Cozy Activity: SPOTLIGHT ABILITY,SPOTLIGHT ABILITY,SPOTLIGHT ABILITY,SPOTLIGHT ABILITY used,used,used,used EXPERTISE,EXPERTISE,EXPERTISE,EXPERTISE SKILLS,SKILLS,SKILLS,SKILLS name,rating,pool
What do you think? Am I missing anything?